Het Gulden Cabinet

Het Gulden Cabinet vande Edel Vry Schilder-Const or The Golden Cabinet of the Noble Liberal Art of Painting is a book by the 17th-century Flemish notary and rederijker Cornelis de Bie published in Antwerp. Written in the Dutch language, it contains artist biographies and panegyrics with engraved portraits of 16th- and 17th-century artists, predominantly from the Habsburg Netherlands. The work is a very important source of information on the artists it describes. It formed the principal source of information for later art historians such as Arnold Houbraken and Jacob Campo Weyerman. It was published in 1662, although the work also mentions 1661 as date of publication.

Het Gulden Cabinet vande Edel Vry Schilder-const

Title page of the Gulden Cabinet^[1]
Author	Cornelis de Bie
Country	Habsburg Netherlands
Language	Dutch
Subject	Artist biographies
Publisher	Joannes Meyssens (1662)
Publication date	1662

Background

Het Gulden Cabinet stands in a long tradition of artist biographies. This tradition goes back to Pliny and was revived during the Renaissance. In 1550, the Italian Giorgio Vasari published his Vite on the lives of famous artists. Karel van Mander was the first author to introduce this genre in the Dutch language with his Schilder-boeck of 1604. Cornelis de Bie explicitly placed himself in the tradition of van Mander and did what van Mander did for 15th and 16th Netherlandish artists for 17th-century artists.

In his Het Gulden Cabinet, de Bie presents himself as a rederijker whose duty it is to broadcast the fame of the artists. By doing so he followed an existing tradition already seen in Dominicus Lampsonius' 1572 Pictorum aliquot celebrium Germaniae Inferioris effigies and the Antwerp painter and rederijker Alexander van Fornenbergh's 1658 Antwerpschen Proteus ofte Cyclopschen Apelles, which sang the praises of the painter Quinten Matsys.

The concept of Het Gulden Cabinet did not come from Cornelis de Bie himself, but from the Antwerp printer Joannes Meyssens. In 1649 Meyssens had already published Image de divers hommes, which contained engraved portraits of famous men, including painters, in imitation of Anthony van Dyck's Iconography. Most of the artist portraits in Het Gulden Cabinet are taken from this Image de divers hommes and only a few new engravings were made especially for de Bie's work.^[2]

The work

General

The full title of the work is Het gulden cabinet vande edel vry schilder const: inhoudende den lof vande vermarste schilders, architecten, beldthouwers ende plaetsnyders, van dese eeuw, which translates as The Golden Cabinet of the Noble Liberal Art of Painting: Containing the Praise of the Most Famous Painters, Architects, Sculptors and Engravers of This Century. Despite its title, the book also deals with artists from the 16th century.

The work was dedicated to the Antwerp art collector Antoon van Leyen who had provided some of the information for the book and may also have helped finance the publication.^[2][3] Other persons who had provided information on contemporary artists included de Bie’s own father, Erasmus Quellinus II, Luigi Primo and Hendrick ter Brugghen’s son Richard.^[2]

Structure and style

The book has three parts. The first deals with artists who had died before de Bie's time and relies heavily on van Mander's Schilder-boeck. The second part deals with artists living at the time of de Bie and is mostly based on original research by de Bie and on the comments added to the engravings borrowed from Meyssens' Image de divers hommes. The third part deals with artists who had been omitted in the first two parts and also includes engravers, sculptors, architects, and painters.^[4] A general treatise on the art of painting is woven into the entire work.^[5]

The book is mainly written in verse, some of them in Latin, and is as a result rather difficult to read today. There are also some prose sections. It is over 500 pages long and contains engravings of more than 50 painters derived mainly from Meyssens' earlier work.

Influence

While The Gulden Cabinet never gained the level of popularity of van Mander’s Schilder-boeck, it is an important source of information on Flemish artists of the 17th century.^[5] De Bie’s most important contribution was to provide a theoretical basis for his appreciation of (then) less valued painting genres such as still lifes, genre painting, portraits and landscapes. He unreservedly praised the artists who practised in these genres.^[2]

Het Gulden Cabinet is included in the Basic Library of the Digital Library for Dutch Literature, which contains 1000 works of Dutch-language literature from the Middle Ages to today, which are deemed by its compilers to be of particular importance to Dutch-language literature.^[6]

Second edition

De Bie seems to have planned a second edition of the work, but this was never published. The hand-written manuscript of de Bie is still extant and is kept at the Royal Library of Belgium. The manuscript is dated 1672. In it de Bie mentioned his intention to have a second edition published. The reason why the second edition was never published is unclear. It may have been due to the fact that the publisher and promoter of the first edition Joannes Meyssens had died in 1670 and de Bie had difficulty finding another publisher.

Historical reliability

Like Vasari and Van Mander before him, de Bie's biographies are interspersed with amusing anecdotes. Although such literary motifs belong to a long rhetorical tradition, many of these stories were labelled "historically unreliable" by leading historians in the 19th century. Only recently have some of the stories been reinstated. Since the book was often the only surviving source of information on certain painters, these stories have often been repeated as hard facts about the lives of the painters described.

For instance, Cornelis de Bie postulates certain apprenticeships, which are now considered improbable because the pupil painted in a completely different genre than the teacher. De Bie's statement that Philips Wouwerman trained with Frans Hals was deemed implausible by later historians since Wouwerman painted landscapes with horses and Hals was principally a portrait painter. Some scholars still consider this apprenticeship as unlikely, but in view of Hals' large workshop it cannot be entirely excluded.

Artists in Het Gulden Cabinet, Part I

The engraved portraits included as illustrations in Book I are below, followed by the artists listed in order of appearance in the text. The first illustration is of Antoon van Leyen, to whom the book is dedicated.

•  
  Anthoine van Leyen, page 9
•  
  Cornelis de Bie, page 17
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  Adam van Oort, page 37
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  Octavio van Veen, page 39
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  Abraham Bloemaert, page 45
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  Tobias Verhaecht, page 47
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  Adam Elsheimer, page 49
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  Guido Reni, page 52
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  Rubens, page 57
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  Frans Snyders, page 61
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  Willem van Nieulandt II, page 63
•  
  Anthony van Dyck, page 75
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  Gerard Segers, page 97
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  Adriaen van Utrecht, page 107
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  Adam Willaerts, page 111
•  
  Johann Wilhelm Baur, page 113
•  
  Nicolaes Knupfer, page 115
•  
  Jan van Bijlert, page 117
•  
  Jan van Balen, page 119
•  
  Roelant Savery, page 125
•  
  Henry van der Borcht the elder, page 127
•  
  Jacob Adriaensz Backer, page 129
•  
  Deodat del Monte, page 133
•  
  David Teniers I, page 141
•  
  Adriaen van Nieulandt, page 147
•  
  Alessandro Varotari, page 151
•  
  Peter Franchoys, page 153
•  
  Jan Both, page 157
•  
  David Beck, page 161
•  
  Gerard Honthorst, page 165
•  
  Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, page 167
•  
  Bonaventura Peeters, page 171
•  
  Frans Wouters, page 175

Adam van Noort p 37 Otto van Veen p 39 Abraham Bloemaert p 45 Tobias Verhaeght p 47 Adam Elsheimer p 49 Guido Reni p 52 Petrus Paulus Rubens p 57 Frans Snyders p 61 Guiliam Nieulandt p 63 Abraham Janssens p 65 Anthony van Dyck p 75 Gillis Mostaert p 79 Pieter Brueghel p 89 Adriaen Brouwer p 91 Gerard Seghers p 97 Lodewijk de Vadder p 98 Wenceslas Cobergher p 101 Jan Antonisz. van Ravesteyn p 102 Palamedes Palamedesz. (I) p 102 Michiel van Mierevelt p 103 Cornelis Schut p 103 Jan Snellinck p 104 Cornelis de Vos p 104 Orazio Gentileschi p 105 Andries van Eertvelt p 105 Adriaen van Utrecht p 106 Willem Backereel p 108 Gilles Backereel p 108 Jan de Wael I p 108 Joos van Craesbeeck p 109 Abraham Matthys p 110 Adam Willaerts p 111 Jean Guiliam Bouwer p 113 Nikolaus Knüpfer p 115 Jan van Bijlert p 117 Jan van Balen p 119 Roelant Savery p 125

Johannes Parcelis p 126 Jan Wildens p 126 Hendrik vander Borght the elder p 127 Jacob Adriaensz Backer p 129 Paulus Moreelse p 131 Hendrick ter Brugghen p 132 Deodat del Monte p 133 Peter vande Plas p 139 Jacques Blanchard p 139 David Teniers the Elder p 140 David de Haen p 142 Vincent Malo p 143 Franciscus Perreer p 143 Jan van Hoeck p 143 Augustijn Brun p 145 Hans Holsman p 145 Frederick Brentel p 145 Jacob van der Heyden p 145 Hesselien (Crabbeken van Amsterdam) p 145 Peeter Meulenaer p 145 Raphael Coxie (son of Michiel) p 145 Spanjolet p 145 Gillis Peeters p 145 Adriaen van Nieulandt the younger p 146 Remigius van Rheni p 149 Peeter van Loon p 149 Padovanino p 150 Lucas Franchois the Younger p 152 Peter Franchois p 152 Peter Soutemans p 154 Pieter Neefs I p 155 Dirck van Baburen p 155 Jan Both p 156 Pietro Testa p 158 Christoffel Jacob vander Laenen p 159 David Beck p 160 Nicolaes vander Horst p 162

Johann Matthias Kager p 162 Theodor Rombouts p 163 Henrick de Clerck p 163 Anthoni Salart p 163 Gerrit van Honthorst p 164 Thomas Willeborts Bossaert p 166 Daniel van Alsloot p 168 Jacques Focquier p 168 Guiliam Mahue p 168 Pieter van Laer p 169 Bonaventura Peeters p 171 Franciscus Wouters p 174 Hendrik Andriessens p 176

Artists in Het Gulden Cabinet, Part II

The engraved portraits included as illustrations in Book II are below, followed by the artists listed in order of appearance in the text. Book II begins on page 181.

•  
  Daniel Seghers, page 213
•  
  Peter Snayers, page 221
•  
  Jacob van Es, page 227
•  
  Adrian de Bie, page 231
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  Adriaen van de Venne, page 235
•  
  Jacques Jordaens, page 239
•  
  Gaspard de Crayer, page 245
•  
  Balthasar Gerbier, page 249
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  Leonard Bramer, page 253
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  Cornelis van Poelenburch, page 257
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  Erasmus Quellinus II, page 261
•  
  Jan Cossiers, page 267
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  David Bailly, page 271
•  
  Herman Saftleven, page 275
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  Jan van Bronkhorst, page 279
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  Abraham van Diepenbeeck, page 285
•  
  Pieter Danckerts de Ry, page 289
•  
  Daniel van Heil, page 293
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  Cornelis Janssens, page 299
•  
  Jacques d'Arthois, page 301
•  
  Pieter van Lint, page 307
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  David Ryckaert, page 309
•  
  Nicolaes de Helt Stockade, page 313
•  
  Gonzalo Coques, page 317
•  
  David Teniers II, page 335
•  
  Robert van den Hoecke, page 341
•  
  Jan Baptist van Heil, page 343
•  
  Jan Philips van Thielen, page 345
•  
  Petrus Meert, page 351
•  
  Jan Peeters I, page 355
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  Petrus Boel, page 363
•  
  Jan van de Hecke, page 365
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  Hendrik van der Borcht II, page 383
•  
  Jan Meyssens, page 387
•  
  Jan van Kessel, page 411

Daniel Seghers p 213 Jan Davidsz. de Heem p 216 Peter Snayers p 220 Jacob van Es p 227 Adriaan van Stalbemt p 228 Lucas de Wael p 229 Cornelis de Wael p 229 Adriaan de Bie p 231 Adriaen van de Venne p 235 Paul de Vos p 236 Simon de Vos p 237 Jacques Jordaens p 238 Lucas van Uden p 240 Theodoor van Thulden p 241 Justus Sustermans p 242 Johannes Lievens p 243 Simon Vouet p 243 Gaspar de Crayer p 244 Pieter Jansz. Saenredam p 246 Abraham Willaerts p 247 Jan Thomas van Ieperen p 247 Balthasar Gerbier p 248 Salomon Koninck p 250 Justus van Egmont p 251 Carolus Creten p 251 Leonardus Bramer p 252 Jan van Bockhorst p 254 François Eyckens p 255 Jan Eyckens p 255 Peter vander Borght p 255 Cornelis Poulenbourgh p 257 Ostadi p 258 Herman Swaenvelt p 259 Hans Haringh p 259 Erasmus Quellinus II p 260 Claude Lorrain p 265 Johannes Cossiers p 266 David Bally p 271 Philippe de Champaigne p 273 Alexander Andriaensen p 273 Herman Saftleven p 275 Jacob Sandraet p 276 Gerrit Dou p 277 Jan Weenix p 277 Jan van Bronckhorst p 278 Goovaert Flinck p 280 Pietro da Cortona p 280 Dirk van Delen p 281 Francesco Maltese p 282 Bartholomeus Vander Elst p 283 Jean Francisco Datsent p 283 Abraham van Diepenbeeck p 284 Giovanni Francesco Romanelli p 286 Andreas Vacar p 297

Nicolas Poussin p 297 Peter Danckerse de Ry p 288 Rembrandt p 290 Peeter van Aelst p 291 Albaen p 291 Daniel van Heil p 292 Cavailler Calabres p 294 Giardino di Fiori p 295 Gaspar Du Que p 295 Andrea Sacchi p 296 Bibiano p 296 Michelangelo delle Battaglie p 297 Cornelis Janssens p 298 Jacques d'Arthois p 300 Salvator Rosa p 303 De Colonnen p 304 Jan Benedetti Castilion p 305 Hoscof p 305 Peter van Lint p 306 David Ryckaert p 308 Monsieur Hans p 311 Bernar p 311 Pierre Patel p 311 Nicolaes de Helt Stocade p 312 Karel van Mander III p 314 Dominiquin p 315 Gonzales Coques p 316 Cavailler Massimo p 319 Charles Le Brun p 319 Luigi Primo p 320 La Hiere p 327 Peter Tysens p 328 Lanfranck p 330 Sébastien Bourdon p 333 David Teniers p 334 Johannes Fyt p 339 Robert van Hoeck p 340 Jan Baptiste van Heil p 342 Jan Philip van Thielen p 344 Maria Theresa van Thielen p 347 Anna Maria van Thielen p 347 Françoise Catharina van Thielen p 347 Johannes Coeper p 348 Franciscus de Neve p 349 Pieter Meert p 350 Anthonius Rocka p 353 Jan Peeters (I) p 354 Peter Boel p 362 Johannes van Heck p 365 Gaspar van Eyck p 367 Jan Meel p 368 Cornelis de Heem p 369 Johannes de Duyts p 370 Jan Sibrechts p 373

Joris van Schooten p 373 Lucas Franchois p 374 Karel Dujardin p 377 Carel van Savoyen p 378 Peter van Bredael p 380 Hendrik van der Borcht II p 382 Peter Tentenier p 384 Gysbrecht de Hondecoten p 384 Peter Lely p 385 Cornelis van Berchom p 385 Jan Meyssens p 386 Nicolaes van Eyck p 388 Philippus Fruytiers p 389 Antonius Goebouw p 390 Peter de Witte p 393 Gaspar de Witte p 394 Joris van Son p 402 Frans van Mieris the Elder p 404 Franciscus Verwilt p 405 Jan Baptist van Deynum p 406 Johannes van Kessel p 409 Gysbrecht Thys p 412 Martin Ryckaert p 413 Artus Wolffort p 413 Geeraert van Hoochstadt p 413 Guiliam de Vos p 413 Maarten Pepyn p 413 Hendrik Berckmans p 414

Artists in Het Gulden Cabinet, Part III

The engraved portraits included as illustrations in Book III are below, followed by the artists listed in order of appearance in the text. Book III begins on page 419.

•  
  Coornhert, page 455
•  
  Hendrick de Keyser, page 459
•  
  Jacob Franquart, page 479
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  Egidius Sadeler, page 483
•  
  Hendrick Hondius, page 487
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  Petrus de Jode senior, page 493
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  Paulus Pontius, page 497
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  Lucas Faydherbe, page 499
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  Artus Quellinus I, page 505
•  
  Petrus de Jode junior, page 511
•  
  Jacques Callot, page 523
•  
  Leo van Heil, page 527
•  
  Petrus Verbrugghen, page 531
•  
  Simon Bosboom, page 547
•  
  Wencelas Hollar, page 551
•  
  Artus Quellinus II, page 555
•  
  Steffano de la Belle, page 561

François Duquesnoy p 442 Bernini p 445 Cornelis Danckerts de Ry p 446 Johannes van Milder p 448 Huybrecht vanden Eynden p 449 Cornelis Cort p 450 Theodorus Galle p 452 Lucas Vorstermans the Elder p 453 Dirck Coornhert p 454 Andreas Colyns de Nole p 456 Carolus de Malleri p 456 Robertus van Voors p 457 Hendrik de Keyser p 458 Claes Jansz. Visscher p 461 (see note p 524) Jan Sadeler p 462 Raphael Sadeler p 464 Jacobus de Breuck p 472 Jan Witdoeck p 473 Nicolaes Lauwers p 473 Jacobus Matham p 474 Boetius Adams Bolswert p 476 Schelte Adams Bolswert p 476 Johannes Baptista Barbe p 477 Jacques Francquaert p 478 Cornelis Galle the Elder p 480 Cornelius Galle the Younger p 480 Jeremias Valck p 481 Claude Melan p 481 Egidius Sadeler p 482 Cornelis Bloemaert p 485 Mattheus Mereaen p 485 Hendricus Hondius p 486 Egidius Rousselet p 490

Robert Nantuel p 491 Nicolaes Loyer p 491 Pieter de Jode I p 492 Jan Cardon p 494 Jean Le Potre p 495 Paulus Pontius p 496 Johannes Saenredam p 498 Lanfan p 499 Lucas Faydherbe p 500 Michiel Lane p 502 Alexander del Garde p 503 Artus Quellinus p 504 Michiel Natalis p 507 Bertholet Flemael p 507 Abraham Bosse p 508 Perelle p 509 Gerard van Opstal p 509 Pieter de Jode II p 510 Sebastiaen de Neve p 512 M Koesel p 512 Guiliam Gabron p 517 Charles Emanuel Biset p 518 Johannes Wierix p 520 Jeronimus Wierix p 520 Anthonius Wierix p 520 Charles Erpard p 520 François Polly p 521 Nicolaes Polly p 521 Jacques Callot p 522 Leo van Heil p 526 Lenaert van Orley p 528 Theodor Matham p 528 Peter vander Willighe p 529

Peeter Verbruggen p 530 Nicolas Pitau p 532 Jacobus Pitau p 532 Johannes van der Borght p 532 Villamena p 533 Simon Bosboom p 546 Peeter van Schuppen p 548 Francesco Fanelli p 549 Wenceslaus Hollar p 550 Franciscus vander Steen p 552 Lucas Vorsterman the Younger p 553 Jacobus Neefs p 553 Artus Quellinus II p 554 Franciscus Du Sart p 556 Anna Schuermans p 557 Catharina Peeters p 558 Johanna Vergouwen p 558 Stephanus de la Belle p 560 Coenrard Lauwers p 562

Notes

1. The same title page was later re-used by S. Resta in his The True Effigies of the most Eminent Painters and other Famous Artists that have Flourished in Europe Curiously Engraven on 125 Copper Plates. London, 1694
2. Christiaan Schuckman. "Bie, Cornelis de." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed July 22, 2014
3. Toon Houdt, On the Edge of Truth and Honesty: Principles and Strategies of Fraud and Deceit in the Early Modern Period, BRILL, 1 Jan, 2002, p 153
4. Het Gulden Cabinet on Flandrica.be (in Dutch)
5. Cornelis de Bie 2018-06-20 at the Wayback Machine in the Dictionary of Art Historians.
6. Website of the Basic Library of the dbnl, the section on the Golden Age (in Dutch)

References

• Digital version of the work on Google Books
• Digital version of the work on Erfgoedbibliotheek Hendrik Conscience
• G. Lemmens, "Introduction", in: Cornelis de Bie, Het Gulden Cabinet, Soest, 1971, p. 1-15 (reprint).
• Ch. Schuckman, "Did Hendrick ter Brugghen revisit Italy? Notes from an unknown manuscript by Cornelis de Bie." in: Hoogsteder-Naumann Mercury, 4 (1986), 7-22.
• P. Calu, "Tot verheffinghe der vermaerste Gheesten ende Lief-hebbers der Schildry. Literaire aspecten van Het Gulden Cabinet (1662) van Cornelis de Bie." in: "Spiegel der Letteren", 53 (1), 29-59.

 

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